How women's sexual orientation guides accuracy of interpersonal judgements of other women

This research examines how women's sexual orientation guides the accuracy of judgements of other women. One hundred ten judges (67 straight and 43 lesbian women) watched videotapes of 9 targets (4 straight and 5 lesbian) and made judgements about the targets' thoughts, emotions, personality, and sexual orientation. Accuracy scores were created for each judge by comparing judgements to criterion data gathered about targets. Straight judges were significantly more accurate at judging thoughts and marginally more accurate at judging emotions compared to lesbian judges. There were no significant differences in judging personality. Straight targets' thoughts and personality were more easily assessed than lesbian targets' while lesbians' emotions were more easily judged than straight targets'. Lesbian judges were more accurate at judging sexual orientation regardless of their tendency to categorize women as lesbian compared to straight judges. Findings support past research on the accurate perception of sexual orientation and contribute to understanding how sexual orientation guides person perception.     

Varieties of Moral Personality: Beyond the Banality of Heroism

ABSTRACT Four perspectives dominate thinking about moral heroism: One contends that moral action is primarily instigated by situational pressures, another holds that moral excellence entails the full complement of virtues, the third asserts a single superintending principle, and the fourth posits different varieties of moral personality. This research addresses these competing perspectives by examining the personalities of moral heroes. Participants were 50 national awardees for moral action and 50 comparison individuals. They responded to personality inventories and a life‐review interview that provided a broadband assessment of personality. Cluster analysis of the moral exemplars yielded three types: a “communal” cluster was strongly relational and generative, a “deliberative” cluster had sophisticated epistemic and moral reasoning as well as heightened self‐development motivation, and an “ordinary” cluster had a more commonplace personality. These contrasting profiles imply that exemplary moral functioning can take multifarious forms and arises from different sources, reflecting divergent person × situation interactions.     

Rich contexts do not always enrich the accuracy of personality judgments

We test the common assumption that information ‘rich’ contexts lead to more accurate personality judgments than information ‘lean’ contexts. Pairs of unacquainted students rendered judgments of one another's personalities after interacting in one of three, increasingly rich, contexts: Internet ‘chat’, telephone, or face-to-face. Accuracy was assessed by correlating participants' judgments with a measure of targets' personalities that averaged self and informant ratings. As predicted, the visible traits of extraversion and conscientiousness were judged more accurately than the less visible traits of neuroticism and openness. However, judgment accuracy also depended on context. Judgments of extraversion and neuroticism improved as context richness increased (i.e., from Internet ‘chat’ to face-to-face), whereas judgments of conscientiousness and openness improved as context richness decreased (i.e., from face-to-face to Internet ‘chat’). Our findings suggest that context richness shapes not only the availability of personality cues but also the relevance of cues in any given context.     

Patterns of adaptation and personality disorders

Patterns of adaptation to conflict were explored with the Serial Color-Word Test, and personality disorders were assessed by means of the Coolidge Axis II Inventory in a group of 76 nonpsychotic women volunteers in the age range 18-50 yr. (M=29.1 yr., SD=8.3), who attended a psychiatric outpatients unit. Forward multiple regression analyses were performed to investigate whether patterns of adaptation were associated with personality disorders. 10 out of 13 personality scales, as measured by the Coolidge Axis II Inventory, were significantly predicted by adaptive variables. Some predictors were positive and others were negative. The variable R(AD) was a negative predictor of avoidant and dependent personalities, and a positive predictor of Extraversion, Aggressive personality, and Antisocial personality; this finding suggests that R(AD) may represent the regulative counterpart of a continuum from passive introversion to aggressive extraversion. The results encourage further research on nontrait laboratory correlates of personality disorders.     

青少年期母子性格与家庭亲密度的关系:性格喜好的作用

研究旨在考察性格喜好与母子性格、家庭成员亲密度的关系以及性格喜好在其他两个变量之间的中介作用。成都市632对初高中学生及其母亲分别自评并填写了艾森克人格问卷,同时评价喜欢对方性格的程度。另外,青少年还报告了与家庭成员的亲密程度。通过相关分析、多元方差分析、层级回归分析以及结构方程模型建模,结果发现：性格喜好与母亲性格、青少年性格均有显著关系,青少年对母亲的性格喜好程度与家庭成员间的亲密感有显著正相关。青少年性格和青少年对母亲的性格喜好程度能直接预测家庭成员亲密度,同时青少年和母亲的性格还通过青少年对母亲的性格喜好程度间接作用于家庭亲密度,提示性格喜好在二者的关系中发挥了重要的中介作用。     

Assessing interpersonal functioning: Views from within and without

In order to better integrate research on personality pathology, interpersonal problems, and social skills, we applied the traditional methods of these three research strands (questionnaires, interviews, and interpersonal role-plays) to the same sample. Participants who attributed higher levels of interpersonal problems to themselves in general were also more critical of their own role-play performances, but these impressions were not mirrored by observer-ratings. Self-observer agreement in judging overall role-play performance was essentially zero. Interviewer-ratings of personality pathology had incremental validity over self-ratings in predicting observer-rated role-play performance. Self-reports of interpersonal functioning leave relevant behavioral variance untapped and thus should be complemented by other sources of information.     

The Big Five and eating disorders: a prospective study in the general population

The present study assessed the Big‐Five personality dimensions according to the lexical hypothesis among participants with a lifetime history of eating disorders (ED) (n = 84), as well as participants with a first‐time incidence of ED (n = 33) compared to participants with no history of ED (non‐ED, n = 1014). Personality and ED were investigated with self‐report questionnaires among women (n = 1157) randomly selected from the general population. Participants with a lifetime ED reported significantly lower levels of Agreeableness. Conscientious, Emotional Stability, and a significantly higher level of Openness compared to the non‐ED. When Emotional Stability was controlled for, participants with ED scored higher on Openness compared to controls. Participants were followed up after two years. Thirty‐three participants with complete data on all the scales developed an eating disorder for the first time at follow‐up. This first‐time incidence group had a very similar pattern of personality prior to developing any symptoms of ED (i.e. low on Agreeableness and Emotional Stability, and high on Openness) to those with a lifetime history of ED, and significantly different from those who never reported any symptoms of ED (controls, n = 636). This pattern resembles the Type 3 personality according to Caspi and colleagues. It is suggested that the presence of some specific personality traits may be regarded as a risk factor for developing ED. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Personality and Integrative Negotiations: A HEXACO Investigation of Actor,Partner, and Actor–Partner Interaction Effects on Objective and Subjective Outcomes

The present study sought to expand the literature on the relations of major dimensions of personality with integrative negotiation outcomes by introducing the HEXACO model, investigating both effects of the negotiators' and their counterparts' personality traits on objective and subjective negotiation outcomes, and investigating two interactions between the negotiators' and counterparts' personalities. One hundred forty‐eight participants completed the HEXACO‐100 measure of personality. Participants then engaged in a dyadic negotiation task that contained a mix of distributive and integrative elements (74 dyads). Measures of subjective experience and objective economic value were obtained, and actor–partner interdependence models were estimated. Personality was generally a better predictor of subjective experience than objective economic value. In particular, partner honesty‐humility, extraversion, and openness predicted more positive negotiation experiences. An actor–partner interaction effect was found for actor‐agreeableness by partner‐honesty‐humility on economic outcomes; agreeable actors achieved worse (better) economic outcomes when negotiating with partners that were low (high) on honesty‐humility. © 2018 European Association of Personality Psychology     

Variability in Personality Expression Across Contexts: A Social Network Approach

The current research investigated how the contextual expression of personality differs across interpersonal relationships. Two related studies were conducted with college samples (Study 1: N = 52, 38 female; Study 2: N = 111, 72 female). Participants in each study completed a five‐factor measure of personality and constructed a social network detailing their 30 most important relationships. Participants used a brief Five‐Factor Model scale to rate their personality as they experience it when with each person in their social network. Multiple informants selected from each social network then rated the target participant's personality (Study 1: N = 227, Study 2: N = 777). Contextual personality ratings demonstrated incremental validity beyond standard global self‐report in predicting specific informants' perceptions. Variability in these contextualized personality ratings was predicted by the position of the other individuals within the social network. Across both studies, participants reported being more extraverted and neurotic, and less conscientious, with more central members of their social networks. Dyadic social network–based assessments of personality provide incremental validity in understanding personality, revealing dynamic patterns of personality variability unobservable with standard assessment techniques.     

基于虚拟博弈任务对冒犯者得到宽恕后行为的研究:人格的调节作用

为探讨人格特质对得到宽恕与否与冒犯者后续行为之间关系的影响,基于虚拟的囚徒困境博弈范式,并结合人格问卷的测试,对369名大学生进行了研究。结果发现:(1)宽恕情境下的被试更倾向于不再伤害对方;(2)得到宽恕的程度与冒犯者善待对方的程度呈显著的正相关;(3)大五人格中的宜人性在得到宽恕与否与冒犯者后续行为之间关系中起调节作用,而大五人格的其他四个维度调节作用不显著;(4)特质性感恩在得到宽恕与否与冒犯者后续行为之间关系中起调节作用。据此可得出结论,冒犯者得到宽恕后更倾向于不再伤害被冒犯者,且受到部分人格特质的调节。     

Being liked is more than having a good personality: The role of matching

Is possession of desirable personality characteristics the only predictor that someone will be well-liked in a group of acquaintances, or does similarity to others in the group also matter? We tested participants (n = 844) who had been assigned to peer groups and had spent 6 weeks together. Participants assessed self and peer personalities. We found that after controlling for attributions of desirable and undesirable personality characteristics, individuals with similar personality patterns liked each other more than individuals with dissimilar patterns. Further analysis revealed similarity of basic demographic attributes (i.e., sex and race) predicted liking independent of personality similarity. Results provide a comprehensive analysis of relations between personality similarity and liking among acquaintances in a randomized, naturalistic design.     

Personality and gender differences in global perspective

Men's and women's personalities appear to differ in several respects. Social role theories of development assume gender differences result primarily from perceived gender roles, gender socialization and sociostructural power differentials. As a consequence, social role theorists expect gender differences in personality to be smaller in cultures with more gender egalitarianism. Several large cross‐cultural studies have generated sufficient data for evaluating these global personality predictions. Empirically, evidence suggests gender differences in most aspects of personality—Big Five traits, Dark Triad traits, self‐esteem, subjective well‐being, depression and values—are conspicuously larger in cultures with more egalitarian gender roles, gender socialization and sociopolitical gender equity. Similar patterns are evident when examining objectively measured attributes such as tested cognitive abilities and physical traits such as height and blood pressure. Social role theory appears inadequate for explaining some of the observed cultural variations in men's and women's personalities. Evolutionary theories regarding ecologically‐evoked gender differences are described that may prove more useful in explaining global variation in human personality.     

The relation between personality and prejudice: a variable‐ and a person‐centred approach

The relationship between Big Five personality (measured by the NEO‐PI) and prejudice was examined using a variable‐ and a person‐centred approach. Big Five scores were related to a generalized prejudice factor based on seven different prejudice scales (racial prejudice, sexism, etc). A correlation analysis disclosed that Openness to Experience and Agreeableness were significantly related to prejudice, and a multiple regression analysis showed that a variable‐centred approach displayed a substantial cross‐validated relationship between the five personality factors and prejudice. A cluster analysis of the Big Five profiles yielded, in line with previous research, three personality types, but this person‐centred approach showed a low cross‐validated relationship between personality and prejudice, where the overcontrolled type showed the highest prejudice and the undercontrolled the lowest, with the resilient falling in between. A head‐to‐head comparison sustained the conclusion that, based on people's Big Five personalities, their generalized prejudice could be predicted more accurately by the variable‐ than the person‐centred approach. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Interpersonal choice: The advantage on the left or on the right?

This study explored whether body specificity unconsciously influenced preferences for certain people. Participants were presented pictures of the heads of 2 persons who were described as having the similar personality, profession and family background. They were instructed to choose 1 in each pair as the preferred date, preferred friend, more charismatic boss or as the better national leader. The results showed body specificity had an influence on the selection preference on first impression. Participants tended to choose the character on their dominant‐hand side. This study not only provided the first social psychological evidence for the body‐specificity hypothesis, but also first demonstrated a role for body specificity in impression formation and selection preference.     

Some Characteristics of the Good Judge of Personality

Summary

Although ratings of subjects and judgments of personality from photographs may, on the average, be highly inaccurate, yet there exist considerable individual differences in the “intuitive” abilities of different judges or raters. Twenty measures of ability to judge personality were obtained for 48 judges, together with a number of measures of intellectual, social-asocial, and artistic tendencies. An extreme absence of consistency was found between the judging tests; the accuracy depends not only on the subject who is judged, but also on the content of the judgment and on the conditions under which the judgment is given. However, the personalities of the good and bad judges manifested fairly uniform characteristics. Good judges of self are more intelligent and possess more sense of humor than the average. Good judges of friends and associates are less socially inclined and less intelligent, but more artistic than good self-judges. Good judges of strangers are distinctly more artistic and intelligent than the average, and, under certain conditions, more asocial.     

Personality and place

This paper examines the distribution of national personality dimensions in geographical space. The relationship between geographical location and aggregate personality in a wide range of nations is quantified using spatial autocorrelation, and it is found that the personalities of nations that are geographical neighbours are more similar than those that are far apart. The five factors of both the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO‐PI‐R) and the Big Five Inventory (BFI), all show a significant degree of spatial organization. The personality factors most strongly associated with geographical location are NEO‐PI‐R extraversion and BFI conscientiousness; both vary with position around the globe about as much as the physical climate. These findings support previous research suggesting associations between aggregate personality and geography, and imply that the sources of variation in national personality are themselves geographically organized.